This was an interurban freight car, equipped with radial swing couplers to take the intereurbans' tight curves. Yes, it could have been interchanged, and likely was, but only with other electric railw

Those of us who remember the classic wood NYC cabooses remember that they showed up in different shades of red (or even pink), depending on how long it had been since they were painted. For many, it w

Weights and lead shot -- I started thinking (always dangerous). Smallest shot packs more densely. It follows that lead powder would be densest of all. Turns out that lead powder is used to add weight

True enough. Comedian Herb Shriner, whose humor was based upon his small-town upbringing, said, "We haven't had so much excitement around here since that feller come through town with a dead whale on

I woul like to point out that the C&O Historical Society (www.cohs.org) is offering a DVD containing all of the Mainline Modeler back issues. It is priced at $89.95 Much good stuff in there. Note: don

Just got off the phone with Bob Hundman; we commiserated over the passing of Greg Martin. And we agree that while ihis passing is a tragedy, we can minimize our grief by dwelling on how lucky we all a

I have had best results with Intermountain wheelsets, purchased in boxes of 100 axles. And yes, that can be a significant expense. The Intermountain wheels come in 33" and 36" diameters. Tread width i

Here's the first part of the Wikipedia entry on the New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois Railroad. It'll be a conversation piee, all right. Peter Weiglin = = = The NJI&I was originally created by the Sing

Fellas, I almost hate to bringt his up, but - In case someone is doing decal artwork or car cards, it should be noted that the name of the company is PROCTER and Gamble. Company was founded in 1837 by

Called White River. Railfan was sent due to a printer error. Copy of RMC is coming.

Given that the smaller the shot, the denser the lead weight, I reasoned that lead powder might offer the greatest density. And I found that lead powder was indeed available from a golf supply house. S

Al Westerfield is generous in giving credit to those folks who helped him, even if that help started out as the picking of nits. We're all grateful for those nit-pickers, perhaps not immediately, but

I have found that the #58 and #5 couplers work together, and am converting gradually (perhaps too gradually) to the 58s. Some mention was made of problems on curves because the 58s have a smaller gath

So let's see if we have this straight, for the non-expert: Per Diem is the fee that railroads pay to each other for the use of cars owned by the payee railroad. In the STMFC days, that was $2.00 per d

This poster failed to include the city in which this event is taking place. I attempted to reply to him privately to avoid embarrassing him. But my reply was directed to his spam box. So, since he sti

Denny Anspach wrote: Paper is a time honored model railroad construction material, the most common type being Strathmore, the brand of a type of Bristol board, a high, or even pure, rag content paper

Not every car that needs weight is a "house" car, capable of concealing coins, sinkers, tire weights, nuts, or "designer lead" weights. The idea that lead shot could be glued into an underframe made m

Lawrence Rast wrote: = = = And then I asked, "Why not just use the pennies? That designer lead sold in hobby shops is expensive. So -- Nine pennies is just under one ounce. .984 of an ounce. Ten penni

...and when/if, I wonder, will our moderator chime in on this topic with the theme song from the old American Airlines "Music 'Til Dawn" program? You remember the tune? "That's All." Peter Weiglin Ame

Richard Hendrickson wrote: <snip> all the bogus freight cars you like, even Tyco searchlight cars or stock cars with giraffe heads sticking out of holes in the roof. and Mike Fortney responded: Bogus?